Rail-joint bar



NQv. ll, 1930. D. L .'BRAINE RAIL JOINT BAR l 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 7, 1950 I I I VENTO la/nel L. Braine,

w andofpriorrailjoint bars. i i

Patented Nov. l1, 193() -UNITED STATES PATENT xoEFlcE j DANIEL Tinnnlnn, `,oF`,13`noonLYi\T, NnwlYonmAssIGNon To THE RAIL JOINT comrima,- oFNEWQYonK, N. Y.A coRPonA'rIoN on NEW vom;

BAIL-,Tornos BAR Alpucauon filed January 7, 1930; seriai No. 419,076."

1li-,This inventionrelates torail" joint bars,

and hasin view to providecertain improvements designed'toincrease the utility of such bars` from an veconomic manufacturing and 2,:55 maintenance standpoint, and also to render themconsiderably moredurable and satisfactorydn service. 1 v J i, f As is Well known, rails in service partake of .a` perceptible l' Wave motion when traffic tm passes over them, theXra-ils being Vdepressed `r 15 thedirection ofmovement of the load along `the rails,` with the result that all parts of the rails partake of a more or` less `pronounced vertical movement, ,which has been `the direct Acause of early deterioration of the rail` ends ,j As A heretofore Y generally constructed and used, rail jointbars have had theirrespective rail-end engaging` portions formed of ,equalA Weight .and strength throughout their f 45 lengths, with theresult thatthe end portions o f thebars were capable of sustaining the samelcloads as-otherfportions of thebars.

Consequently/With such bars clamped rigid- 41y, against the sides of the meeting `ends of a 'i 30 pairnofrailgthe Lend portionsofV the bars have Aconstituted in` effect fulcrumstabout which the end, portions of the railshave in effect pivoted with the result thatV the vertileal,V movement ofthe ends Vof the rails has been particularly pronounced. This in turn lhas resulted `in pounding` with `consequent Lmutilation of the ends` oftherails land also Ainfexcessive Wearon the fishing surfaces of therails and the joint bars, especially at the w40 centerof the latter, due both to pounding 245 -ally,constructe,d and usedrzyhave served to nterrupt the natural Wave motion of the rails Where they are joined together and this in turn has resulted in various harmful stresses and strains being set up in the rails and the joints with the consequent development of the" foregoingand other unsatisfactory and unsafe track conditions.

Accordingly, one of the important pur poses of the present invention is to provide a jointbar involving novel distributienet metal designed to afford" strength where strength isfneeded to sustain loads imposed onthe rails atl the ends thereof, and `at the same time to enable the Wave motion' of the rails to` be transmitted substantially unin-f terruptedly through the joint, sothat, insofares concerns this Wave motion, aj plurality of rails connected together by the present joint bars act substantially as a singlecontinuous rail. Thus, pivoting of the endportions of the rails is substantially eliminated with consequent substantial elimination of pounding of the rail ends and sliding abrasive Contact between the rails andthejoint bars,

thereby assuringsafe joints and maximum lifelboth of the rails and of the joint bars.

The metal from which rail joint bars are formedis costly. Therefore any excess metal contained a bar over and above that essen- ,l ,tial to the required safety factors may he con- `sidered as waste. Accordingly,another important purpose ofthe present invention is to provide a `joint har having a novel distribution of metal as aforestated and which is composed of a minimum amount of metal, considerably less metal in fact than has heretofore been considered necessary'to be embodied in a bar of corresponding size. Consequently, production costs are reduced and, due to the relatively long` life of the present bar, maintenance costs are minimized. i

.The invention also contemplates, andhas for one of itsadditional important purposes, the provision of a rail joint bar which takes ,loadingengagement withl therhead fillets of struction and in the novel'coinbination andv varrangement of-features as will be hereinafter Vmorefully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and definedin thev Vappended claims.

the different views :--V v Figure l is aperspective view of a rail of reference denote corresponding 'partsv in joint illustrating one .practical embodiment of the present joiiitbar.

y Figure` 2 .is vside elevation of the struc- V tureillustrated in igl; and Y Figs. 8,4, 5, 6 and Z arecrosssections,

respectively, on thev correspondingly numbered section -linesof Fig. 2; l

` While the features of the invention are sus` ceptible of structural modification in various nectingandliolding the meeting endsrof rails of. dissimilar section with their surface and ,gagein alinement. .Y Accordingly, for purposes of best illustrating saidfeatures, same have-,been shown in the drawingsas nicer-1 porated inf'a oint barofthe compromisevtype, 'tliebar `being designated generally asl Arf and fthe rails of dissimilar sectionfconnected therev :by Abeiiig.- designated as R, B", respectively.

``irisual,-1thebar ,A consists of'v the rai-l Y y,end engaging org-fishing ,sect-ions@ '1 Vand-2, re-' speCtively, eachv consisting of a web 3,-a` head 4; and a; foot flange f5," the sections: 1and2 beingyerticallyl-and'laterally o'ifsetwith re#Y y, f spect to koneanother in this-instance toy compensate for :the difference in height and secf tion ofthe railsuf outer side` thereof with a medial enlargement designa-ted at-itin designed to'rei'nforce and strengthen thebar at 'the junctionof the sections l and-f2soas to V'providearigidsupport for thefrail ends.y bviouslyfthis enlarge- .inent or medial reinforcement'fmaytake dif-- ferent shapes, but preferably7 itis' located betweenl the' "inside *pair ofbolt i holes v and does not Y extendzf-b'elow' theY ofthe v"high Y railf- Thus,1at"the outset, provision is'fni'ade in. the'fpresent'bar to ren'derlthev medialpor'- Y A'tion thereo-ffof amplestrength to sustain the greatest loads to which the lextreme end por- Y tions of the'rails may be subjected.

Further, in carrying forward the inven-V tion, eachsection 1 and 2 of the bar is formed of progressively less thickness and weight i from the medial portion of the bar to the end thereof. This reduction in the sect-ion and Vweight-ofthe sections 1 and 2 towards their outer ends likewise may be eected in difthe height ofthe sect-ions, the reductionis effected by imparting tothe outerv face of each section a stepped yformation lengthwise. theree n of. 'llhat is to say, each sectionl and. 2is-of In' the -drawings, wherein "like characters 1 niaximumthickness. throu,`g"ghQutv a portion'of its length'adjacent to'jthe medial portion of .A .the bar, as indicated at 7, and then towards its outer end is stepped inwardly as indicated atk8, being thinnestand of least weight *andV strength at its free end. Each sect-ion kmaybe f provided withfanydesired numberof stepped Y Three, however, 'is considered." a o portions. a t minimum and practical number, considering the medial enlargement 'asoneofzsaid por-y tions. :lt-hasbeenffoundfthat the ends' ofa joint bar are required to sustainfvery .little/:load and .that they air'e vsubjectedrto'little'v orno wear'. Hence, the ends ofthe. sections land 2- may :be .formed relatively zthinrv and thus f rendered sufliciently yieldable under loadv to enable the, wave motion'fof .the railsfto'ffbe `transmitted `fromfone togthefother substan- Y tially-v uninterrupted -through the joint. That is.'to*say, due to theifdecreased 'weightan'd f 'strength' of the outer end portions o-fthe sections l 2 and :2 .oft the present bar', :said i por;J Vtions do not'act'asj fulcrumsbutto thei'contrary *yield with the rails when rload( is' imposed on `the latter' vabove andadjacentjto j: said portions sothat-.pivotin'g ofthe 'end por- Y-*tio'nsofl the rails-is' practically eliminated. Y V'lherefore, 'pound-ing ofthel railendsfwith 'consequent 'sliding abrasive lcontact between the latter and the jeintbars'fal'so. is practical- Y ily eliminated. QThus, rails connectedl by means of theprese'nt joint bars zact vsubstan- *tially in the nature of a'f's'inglev continuous railas regards the wave motion 'of the-rails,l "and'longevity vof both the joint bai-"s andthe j f rails is' assured. Y In vcarrying forwardthe present develop- `:ments the bar A preferably -is provided at the i Preferably the" successively refined; ptrtions- Of the' P-reenf bei". are-'off-Sibstantiaii'y equal lengthA and the lper'centage of reduction. of 'cross sectionalarea of each successive outer section with` respect tof 'the thicker]y section next (adjacent theretois the same, org-in other 'words fthe percentage of 'reduction feach successive VYsectinnfis directly proportionate to The present bar preferably is both headfree and toeless. That is to say, the head of `the present bar has loading engagement with the head fillets of the rails and clearance from the under faces of the rails, and the foot flange is terminated either flush with or inwardly of the `edges of the rail flanges. In a headfree rail joint the resultant of the forces imposed on the joint is directed inwardly in the vicinity of the neu- ,tral axis of the bar, while a toeless bar involves a distribution of metal preserving a balance of the bar above and below the neutral axis by in substance crowding into these portions of the bar an amount of metal substantially equal to or less than the amount of i metal employed generally to provide a re-` inforcing toe orgirder extending along the bar at the edge of the foot flange. Thus, as is Y manifest, in a bar of the present type where the sections 1 and 2 are of reduced weight and strength towards their outer` ends, it is extremely beneficial to'provide for directing inwardly `the forces imposed on the bar whereby the relatively weak ends thereof rails, and the latter being formed to terminate inwardly of the edges of the rail flanges.

2. A rail joint bar inclusive of portions of different thickness, said portions having bolt holes therein, respectively, and a boss on the portion of least thickness surrounding the bolt hole therein, the outer face of said boss being flush with the outer face of the other portion having a bolt hole therein.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature. j

DANIEL L. BRAINE.

are rendered capable of sustaining such j j forces,'and to embody in the reduced portions of the bar a distribution of metal in accordance with` a toeless bar to render the reduced` portions of the bar of maximum strength proportionate to the amount of metal embodied therein.

`While, as heretofore stated, it is preferred to form the present bar by altering the outer contour and without disturbing the inner contour thereof, obviously the same beneficial p results may be obtained by altering only the inner-contour of the bar or by altering both theV outer and the inner contours thereof.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, propor-` l tion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

, I claim 1. A rail joint bar of progressively decreasing thickness from the medial portion thereof towards its ends, said bar being inclusive ofa head and a foot flange, theformer being `shaped for loading engagement with the head fillets of the rails and for clearance from the under faces of the heads of the 

